Single Car Accident on Reed Court: Was Daylight Saving to Blame?

A driver who said she “fell asleep” while driving on a residential street in Healdsburg shortly before 4 p.m. yesterday damaged three parked cars on Reed Court near . The incident occurred on the afternoon following the annual implementation of .

Which raises the question: Was an hour loss of sleep a factor in this accident?

Following a 911 call at 3:49, “responded with all units,” according to the police reports , and appeared with three police cars, an ambulance and a fire truck.

Two cars parked on the south side of the narrow street off University St. were sideswiped, and a third was struck on the right rear fender. The impact drove the third car, a later model Toyota Camry, onto the sidewalk and in front of a driveway.

A neighbor helped the driver, an elderly woman who appeared dazed, out of her car, a green Subaru Forester or similar. A witness overheard her say she lived nearby on Powell Ave. and admit, “I think I fell asleep.” No medical attention was required, and at this point no charges have been filed.

But according to a report on Huffington Post, it might just be possible that the bi-annual tradition of changing the clocks could have been a factor. Charles Czeisler, M.D. Ph.D., professor and director of the division of sleep medicine at Harvard Medical School, explains some of the harrowing effects of turning the clocks forward for the beginning of Daylight Saving Time in the accompanying video.

We may not worry about cutting just one hour of sleep, he explains, but  "springing forward" significantly increases the risk of fatal car crashes and heart attacks.